Business Opportunities Weblog
Their are 2 things Pascale Pace and Alicia Johnson have in common. One is that they’re both moms. The other? They’re partners in business. Each woman brings their own special talent to the business which gives it the advantage it needs to continue it’s growth.
Pascale and Alicia both believe that it’s important to give their customers what they are looking for in their announcements and they do that. At Marmalade Ink their are no “white backs” to these cards.
What was the inspiration behind Marmalade Ink?
We based this business on providing personalized announcements consumers were asking for. Pascale Pace, who ran a Chicago-based graphic design firm, turned stay-at-home mom was continuously being asked to design birth announcements and invitations for friends and family and looking for a way to combine her artistic abilities and desire to work from home. Alicia Johnson, Professional Photographer and Graphic Designer has owned her own professional photography studio for over 12 years now and during that time has been designing announcements and invitations for her clients for the past 5 years. The growing demand for unique and exciting greetings was enough for Alicia to approach Pascale with the idea of an online photo announcement business.
How long has it been since the two of you founded your business?
We started the process of registering our business with the government and getting the logistics of the business straightened out approx. 1.6 years ago. We finally launched the business in November of 2007. We just recently started offering wholesale prices to online stationery retailers and the response has been overwhelming.
What have you learned since starting Marmalade Ink that you wish you’d known before hand?
Alicia
I say this about both of my businesses. I wish that I had taken more business and marketing classes. No matter what your business is these classes would be invaluable. I feel like I had to run a business and learn the business and marketing skills at the same time. Tough to do!
Pascale
The thought of starting a business was always a bit scary to me. If I knew then, how rewarding and exciting it is, I would have started a business along time ago.
Continue reading Photo Announcements With The Marmalade Touch
As the momentum of recovery continues to build in the city of New Orleans, a major force has emerged as a key driver of this recovery: entrepreneurs.
Due to the “clean slate” afforded by a city rebuilding itself, this nascent movement is comprised of unconventional, out-of-the-box thinkers who have distinguished themselves in successful careers, and who have sought a city that is cultivating an entrepreneurial culture.
To attract more of these types of individuals, Start Up New Orleans has been established by four of the city’s young business leaders. A resource for entrepreneurs seeking information and connections to other entrepreneurs, Start Up New Orleans is designed to leverage the city’s unique qualities (rich culture, low costs, economic incentives), which distinguish it from anywhere else in the United States.
Continue reading Startup New Orleans
Here’s one from last Sunday’s Close to Home.
There’s a long line in front of the women’s restroom, and no waiting at all for the men’s room. An enterprising business person has set up a stand near the women’s line selling “Men’s Disguises.”
Click the comic for a larger version.
House Hound Home Improvement is a bi-monthly magazine mailed free to homeowners showcasing local companies and articles on home improvement, remodeling, interior design, outdoor living, home tech, repair and other related services.
Like other similar magzines, newslesspapers and newspapers in a box, the publishers of House Hound Magazine handle all of the magazine production (layout, printing, etc), and all the local Independent Publisher has to do is to sell advertising.
Continue reading House Hound Home Improvement
Mg.Co.Za:
When David Pangelinan isn’t logging 14-hour days driving a fuel tanker, he’s at his computer indulging his latest hobby: building a succession of online stores in minutes.
Pangelinan has built four online stores offering hundreds of products for sale, from Bulova watches to Betty Boop pillows, using the website Zlio.com.
“It was real easy,” says Pangelinan (43), who lives in Columbus, Georgia.
He says he’s still learning the finer points of e-commerce, and spends time browsing through thousands of products on Zlio.com’s catalogue that he could sell.
“I just went in there and started jotting down the products that were interesting and caught my eye,” says Pangelinan, who spends six to 10 hours a week tending to his shops.
Zlio.com, which launched in France in 2006 and in January in the United States, allows people to form online stores for free. Users can choose a name, address and template for the store they want to create and then begin displaying wares — say an iPod or a T-shirt.
Photo via 4mtech.co.uk
Chronicleive.co.uk:
Ceyhan Mihcioglu, 19, has a golf handicap of five but says he will now play the sport for fun and make his living through the internet.
The Newcastle College student, who has entered the If We Can You Can Challenge, has already secured partial funding for the project through the Government’s Business Link and says his website – tailored specially for students – will be everything his target audience will want.
Ceyhan, who lives with his parents in Darras Hall, Ponteland, said: “I used to want to play golf professionally but now I think I will just do that for fun.
“The idea is to create a website aimed at students. It will give them information on specific subjects they are interested in with contributions from other students and experts.
“It will be free to sign up and I’m hoping businesses across the country will sponsor it so their products will be on the site.
“Everyone I’ve spoken to about it is excited by it. And my friends are saying ‘don’t forget me when it does really well’. I’m trying not to get too excited about it, though.”
Former Ponteland High School pupil Ceyhan, who has autobiographies by Duncan Bannatyne and Sir Richard Branson on his recently-read pile, said he would like to make enough money to be comfortable.
Photo via hojobythefalls
In airports, hotels, office buildings and shopping malls all over the country people are on the move. Advertisers, though, like a captive audience. The question of how to stop someone and get them to stand still while you blast them with your advertising message has perplexed even the greatest marketing minds of this century.
ShowShiner’s method is through the shoes. The ShowShiner is a commercial shoe shine machine combined with a high definition LCD display. The machine provides a free automtic shoe polish while it presents a commercial messages from advertisers.
The Showshiner is not a franchise, so there are no royalty fees. Single units start at $8995. According to the company, a golf shoe cleaning ad system is also available.
Speaking Roses has developed a patented system to print and emboss directly onto the petal of a live flower. Their process doesn’t harm or shorten the life of the flower in anyway. This twist on the already huge conventional flower business allows for a unique selling proposition in what has typically been a commodity industry.
Speaking Roses is currently licensing the technology and supplies necessary for their process to people looking to start their own business:
With the ability to place anything from a corporate logo to a marriage proposal on fresh-cut flowers, we have opened a door to an advertising world that is only just beginning to tap into its real potential.
The chance to get in on the ground floor of this amazing opportunity is now being offered to business-minded individuals who are looking to be the first in this new market to capture the hearts of consumers in a way that has already caught the attention of everyone from Hollywood to the guests at your best friend’s wedding.
When you join our team as a Speaking Roses licensed owner, you start out running. With the ‘know how’ of experienced professionals, you join a company that is already experiencing unheard-of success, having already earned recognition from magazines such as Forbes, Family Circle, In Touch, and many more.
In February 1995 Newsweek ran an article called “The Internet? Bah!” from computer scientist Clifford Stoll wherein he predicted that the Internet would never amount to anything and that no one would every really be able to communicate, learn or do business on it. What a difference a decade makes!
Looking back on his article, he wasn’t really wrong, not with world of 1995, but what he wasn’t predicting was the entrepreneurs that would to challenge all of his assumptions about how we use the Internet by finding real needs and filling them.
In this post, I’m going to quote some of his text and then highlight businesses that didn’t exist in 1995 that are doing exactly what he predicted they wouldn’t be doing.
Every voice can be heard cheaply and instantly. The result? Every voice is heard. The cacophony more closely resembles citizens band radio, complete with handles, harassment, and anonymous threats. When most everyone shouts, few listen.
Blogger was the first popular weblogging software that made it even easier to be “heard” online than it was in 1995. Is anyone listening? Are you reading this blog? Of course you are. You and a hundred thousand other people are reading this post right now.
Continue reading The Internet? Yeah!
Fortune Small Business:
Q: I own a very small real-estate advertising company that provides services online to the military market. For several years I’ve researched and run the numbers and the answer I keep getting is: there is a need and little competition. I could be a $1 million company. But no matter how hard I try, I just can’t seem to get the exposure! What can I do that’s not going to cost me tens of thousands of dollars?
A: Growing a business can be challenging, so you need to have a strategy for refining your message and getting the word out.
You are halfway there because you have already clearly identified your target market, says Robert Hale, CEO of Robert Hale & Associates, a San Diego, Calif., strategic marketing consulting firm. Plus, you have a good niche: the high turnover in military housing should help your business.
However, traffic will not significantly increase until your market clearly understands what you offer, knows your services are credible, and becomes aware of the site.
Start by clearly laying out the value you provide to each sector of your target audience, including members of the military, realtors, property managers and homebuilders.
This section should be a prominent part of the website, preferably on the home page, Hale says.
For example, you should communicate to the military consumer that your site is comprehensive and easy to use, and that it’s a one-stop shop for all their housing needs. You might also partner with local realtors to offer special discounts to members of the military.
For realtors, you want to stress that the military can be a consistent source of buyers and renters in a tough real estate market.
Once your message is refined and your website updated, you should focus on increasing awareness of your services.
Here you need to prioritize: figure out which military bases represent the largest opportunities, and advertise your services in local military papers on the base.
Photo by MSDesigns.
As the school year draws to a close, is Junior planning to run another lemonade stand in the front yard? If your child has the entrepreneurial itch, but lacks a business idea, they should take a look at FranChild. FranChild is a company that makes franchise-like businesses for children aged 5 to 15.
Start by picking a business model: beeswax candles, organic soap, jewelry or apparel . FranChild gives your child real purchasing power, and support with a $75,000 marketing portal used by Fotune 500 companies so they can easily make custom business cards, product packaging and marketing materials to help them succeed. Your kids can even have their own FranChild website!
Continue reading Franchild: Franchising for Kids?
Des Moines Register:
Connie Mulvin clicks on her headset and stares at her computer screen.
“Thank you for calling PBS. My name is Connie. How may I help you?” the 47-year-old Des Moines woman says in her friendly, lilting voice.
This could be a scene from any of a number of call centers throughout Iowa, the United States or the off-shore locations where American companies sometimes send their call center work.
Except this is no bustling call center.
This is a 5-by-10-foot storage room in the back of Mulvin’s single-wide trailer at Val Vista Estates, a Des Moines mobile-home park.
Nearby sits Mulvin’s oxygen tank. In the corner of the closet, Mulvin’s 6-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, scribbles in a coloring book. Two bare light bulbs shine over a rack of clothes hangers.
Mulvin’s job is part of a new program through Mainstream Living, an Iowa nonprofit social service agency that helps people with disabilities become independent. Through the increasingly popular trend of homesourcing, the Mainstream Living program lets people work at home in jobs that fit well to their specific disability.
Homesourcing, also called homeshoring, combines outsourcing and telecommuting to let people do contract work from their homes rather than sending American call-center jobs overseas and is increasing at a rate of about 20 percent per year, according to IDC, a global market research company.
An unexpected benefit is helping people like Mulvin find steady jobs.
The workers train for six weeks. They work out of Mainstream Living’s south-side Des Moines office for the first month, then transition to home.
They contract their work for Arise Virtual Solutions, a company at the forefront of the homeshoring trend with its home-based sales and customer service concepts. Contractors must have their own computers and Internet access.
Arise sets up contractors with companies such as GSI Commerce, an e-commerce firm that manages e-commerce for Web sites of companies such as PBS, Linens-N-Things and Sports Authority.
Photo by Justin Hayworth.
Entrepreneur.com:
I’ve been studying Tai Chi and Qigong for the past year and it’s been helpful for me both mentally and physically to learn to relax my body and calm my mind in new ways. My instructor often quotes Lao Tse’s concept of action through inaction, which sounds simple but is actually quite challenging.
As a beginner, we learn individual pieces of the form, but we don’t yet quite realize how they all fit together. We practice the simplest moves until they become habit, flowing seamlessly like a piece of kelp in the ocean or a ribbon in the wind.
The more I train, the more I realize how many applicable lessons from Tai Chi and Qigong there are for entrepreneurs to embrace.
- Warm up before you start something new and practice longer than you want to or think you need to. Even the masters practice their lessons, which is why and how they’ve mastered their craft.
- Having diversity enriches your experience. Different people bring new perspectives based on their background and knowledge.
- There is time to meditate, breathe deeply and stretch. You can find small pockets of time standing in line, waiting at a stop light or sitting in a reception area.
- Get outside your comfort zone. Stretch your body and your mind. Even though I’m still a beginner, attending the more advanced classes gives me great insight into my training and my goals.
- Leave every encounter with a smile. It will carry with you throughout the day.
Remember that there is action through inaction so not doing is also doing something.
Photo by ziga-zaga.
Central Penn Business Journal:
Balloons are everywhere.
Flower balloons, heart-shaped balloons for Valentine’s Day, balloons with maps of the world on them all float around Dave Truitt’s one-window office in Mechanicsburg Brethren in Christ Church.
Truitt is the youth pastor there. He uses balloons to help teach the Bible’s lessons to young children and — from time to time — to adults too.
“The church has definitely received it warmly,” he said. “I’ve used balloons to teach sermons. It’s gotten to the point where people always ask, ‘Are you going to use balloons today?’ And sometimes they’re disappointed.”
Truitt is also the chief creative officer of his balloon business, Top Nozzle Entertainment.
He specializes in advanced balloon creations, such as twisting 5-foot, hot-dog-shaped balloons into a skiing Goofy, a water-walking Jesus or a 7-foot-tall balloon costume of the Bible’s Goliath as a Halloween outfit for his son.
Truitt is one of hundreds of performers in Central Pennsylvania who supplement their daytime jobs by entertaining others at events such as carnivals, corporate meetings and business openings.
“This is their passion. Very few of them do it full-time,” said Lisa Stokes, president of BRP Entertainment Inc., a brokerage that supplies entertainment for events such as weddings and meetings.
BRP of Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County, has between 800 and 1,000 local performers in its database, including strolling performers, comedians, bands, individual musicians and jugglers, Stokes said.
Most performers have regular jobs as teachers, businesspeople and mail carriers, but for whatever reason, they fell in love with a specific hobby, Stokes said. Some people play the acoustic guitar for bar patrons. Others are disc jockeys for weddings. Still others entertain children with balloon monkeys, caricatures and the occasional flea circus.
Photo by Amy Spangler.
Courier Mail:
A Darling Downs resident has invented a valve that stops the average household losing 16,000 litres of water down the drain.
Lloyd Linson-Smith’s Enviro Save device diverts and saves cold water that flows from domestic taps before hot water arrives.
The $198 valve can be fitted to plumbing systems in new homes or retro fitted to older style houses for $475.
Linson-Smith, 77, got the idea after he moved from Brisbane to Oakey, where his new home was supplied by tanks.
“We used to save the cold water in buckets for use in the garden but then my wife said, ‘Okay smart arse, you have spent a lifetime as a tool and light machinery manufacturer so you should be able find an easier way to save our precious water’,” he said.
“So I came up with the idea of a brass valve that is installed in the hot water pipeline just before the kitchen sink,” he said.
“The cold water ahead of the arrival of the hot water is identified by a thermal element and bypasses the sink.
Photo by David Martinelli.
The Crack Team is a home-service franchise, specializing in concrete crack repairs. Started in 1985 by Mike ‘The Ray Kroc of Crack’ Koder, The Crack Team was developed to address repetitive concerns of homeowners who were faced with the inevitable leaking cracks often found in basements. Koder, a homebuilder for over 30 years, began working with technology that was both a permanent and cost-effective solution to these leaky concerns. His methods were an ideal alternative to the otherwise costly expense of replacement or more in-depth repairs for concrete foundations and other concrete structures.
As Koder’s business grew to more than 1,000 customers a year, he moved forward and developed a line of exclusive crack repair products that are considered to be some of the best in the industry. He also paved the way for others to join the Crack Team by opening franchising opportunities to entrepreneurs in North America who are looking for a niche service company with year-round work availability, repairing basements, garages, sidewalks, and patios. The industry has little competition and the Crack Team franchise offers on-going technical training and support for both the proven system of crack repair, as well as the exclusive line of repair products.
Continue reading The Crack Team
The New York Times:
There is something about “American Idol” that extracts intense emotions from the audience: devotion for the contestants, perhaps, or passion for the songs. For Dave Della Terza, it elicits utter disgust. But it also turns a profit.
Frustrated by what he called the manipulative nature of the televised singing competition, Della Terza started encouraging readers of a reality television message board five years ago to vote for the contestants they deemed the worst singers.
The idea spawned a Web site, Vote for the Worst, which received widespread attention last year for supporting the singer Sanjaya Malakar as he advanced in the competition.
What started as a hobby has become a business. Last year, the site had revenue of roughly $40,000, Della Terza said, mostly through Google Ads. While some of the income paid for computer servers and legal fees, the site still made a profit, allowing Della Terza to take some days off work to maintain the increasingly popular site.
Photo by muzix.org.
techdirt:
Nearly all of the economic evidence shows that patents tend to do more harm than good. Researchers James Bessen and Michael J. Meurer have gone into a little more detail as to how much damage is done, but I wanted to focus on why the downsides to patents are so often worse than the upsides.
At one level, it goes back to basic fundamental economics. Any given monopoly is going to be bad. There are economic rents associated with a monopoly. It limits the supply available and increases the cost, acting as a deadweight loss to society. That’s absolutely true with patents as well (as much of the research has shown). However, there are a few more reasons why patents tend to be a net negative. First, let’s focus on why the reasons in favor of patents aren’t particularly strong.
The first is that it should act as an incentive to create the product. Yet, as the research has shown, that’s almost never true in practice. More innovation tends to happen with weaker patent laws, and when stronger patent laws are put in place, the pace of innovation decreases. The reason is that real innovation almost never happens because of patents.
Very few people invent stuff “to get a patent,” but because there’s a need in the market and they can help solve it. That’s true with, or without, patents. Furthermore, it’s that need in the market that is the real incentive for innovation. If you can serve a market, there’s a way to make money from that market, and that acts as plenty of incentive.
The fears that an “easily copied” product will damage the original inventor are also wildly overblown. Study after study after study has shown that there is a distinct first mover advantage, and even things that are easily “copied” doesn’t mean that the copycats get success in the market. People put a premium on buying from the original creator.
Furthermore, they often believe (correctly in many cases) that the original creator has a better understanding of the market, and is likely to continue to innovate faster and with better solutions.
Finally, in the worst case scenario, where a copycat is able to do a better job, that’s also not a bad thing, because the societal benefit is still a better product. It’s called competition, and is generally considered a good thing in a market economy.
Read more.
Photo by USPTO.
Creativity has been a big part of Elizabeth Gallant’s life since she was very young. Since she was a kid she sewed, picking up skills from her own mother. She then spent part of her adult years as a graphic designer as well, until she decided she wanted to become a stay-at-home mom to raise her daughter.
It was while Elizabeth was trying to think up a gift idea that she decided to harness her sewing experience and created a one of a kind diaper bag. That was just the starting point of what would soon become a very successful business for her.
What is EG Designs?
EG Designs is a custom accessories business that caters to women and children. With over 40 unique accessory styles, continuously modernized, and a vast always-updated palette of 100 designer fabric choices, there is a design selection for everyone. I believe accessories should be a reflection of your personality. I allow the customer to choose their design accessory, fabric and embellishments to suit their specific style. I offer the same luxury for distributing wholesale to my retailers, a great benefit as they are customizing for their clientele and know best what will sell in their area. After order processing, items are then created, scrutinized and mailed with in 3-4 weeks.
What was your inspiration for your business?
I believe a lot of “mom” businesses begin in a similar fashion. Our babies begin school and build their own personal lives and we “moms” are left to fill the void in our days. I have an art background and over 35 years of sewing experience, I decided to put this to work doing something I love.
How long has it been since your business was started?
My business began as a custom accessories business for children’s bedrooms. Hand painted lamps, switch plates, custom lampshades, nightlights, bedding, curtains etc. My “women’s accessories” business began when I created a diaper bag for a baby shower, about 5 years ago or so.
Continue reading Mom Sews Together A Successful Business
WiseBread:
When you search for work at home opportunities on the internet, oftentimes you will find sites pitching programs that could make you thousands of dollars a week. Usually these programs are scams designed to take your money. So how do you go about finding legitimate work at home jobs that pay you for your time?
1. Craigslist - The Craigslist job board is where I have found all of my jobs after college, and it is a great resource. When you search for jobs you can check the “telecommute” option for jobs that allow you to work at home.
2. Freelance sites - eLance and iFreelance are two sites that allow you to find freelance jobs and bid on how much you wish to be paid.
3. Virtual agent companies - If you do not mind working as a customer representative or an virtual assistant, companies such as LiveOps and Working Solutions might be right for you. Both of these companies have on demand call centers, which means you take calls at home.
4. Work at home online communities - A great site that I read from time to time is WAHM.com. They post job opportunities for free on their site and they have plenty of tips on avoiding scams and starting your own business.
5. Your current job - Would your current employer let you work at home? Some of my coworkers actually live in other states and work from home exclusively. If you can show that you can be extremely productive at home, it may be worthwhile to ask your current employer for the opportunity to work at home.
Photo by scataudo.
Springwise:
Tarzan fans have long yearned for the ability to swing from the trees like the Lord of the Jungle, and in recent years new opportunities to do just that have arisen around the world. Most recently one of our spotters came across Go Ape, a UK-based park that first launched in 2002 and has since expanded to 16 locations throughout Britain. Each of Go Ape’s award-winning high forest adventure parks is essentially a network of rope bridges, trapezes and zip slides that stretches for roughly a mile through the tree canopy.
Visitors can climb trees, slide across high wires, crawl through tunnels, cross rope bridges, swing on Tarzan swings and walk over planks before zipping down to the ground again. All users are fitted with a climbing harness and given instruction before undertaking the course, which takes approximately 2.5 to 3 hours to complete. Entry is GBP 25 for adults and GBP for children 17 and under; the minimum age is 10.
In Lyon, France, City Aventure operates two parks that also offer a variety of high-forest adventures. Attractions include rope bridges and Tarzan swings, along with the Tyro X-speed at Ste. Foy, a giant Tyrolean traverse 110 metres long that visitors can use to zip throughout the 4-hectare park. The courses take between 1 and 2 hours to complete. Both parks are built with environmental preservation in mind, including fastening systems that do not interfere with the trees’ normal growth.
Adrenalin Forest in Christchurch, New Zealand, spans more than 1km with 4 pathways between 1.5 and 17 meters off the ground. Visitors to the park, which launched last year, negotiate a series of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and flying foxes from platforms constructed in the tree canopy. Last but not least, Thailand’s Tree Top Adventure Park, set in the forest of Koh Chang, also offers an assortment of rope bridges, Tarzan swings and giant zip lines.
Photo by Go Ape.
Enquirer.com:
After deciding she was paying too much for the cleaning service she employed as a busy working mother, Jennifer Bunning decided to start her own. She says that her venture, Fuzzy Slipper Cleaning Co., is priced to fit the average family’s budget.
An initial residential cleaning is $45 for a house under 2,000 square feet and $55 for a larger house. Subsequent maintenance visits are $35 for a smaller
house and $45 for a larger house.
“I have worked many years as a retail manager with the dream of opening my own business, and came to this out of helping friends with their housework,” Bunning said. “I am bonded and insured for clients’ protection and peace of mind.”
Clients can schedule services through Bunning’s Web site. There are no contracts. Her cleaning services are available to households in Northern Kentucky.
Photo via nwkniterati
Reuters:
The mom and pop businesses that make up the bulk of America’s employers, key players in scuttling health reform during the Clinton years, say years of crushing costs have them backing major changes this time around.
The National Federation of Independent Business helped derail President Bill Clinton’s effort to overhaul the health insurance system during the 1990s, with a massive direct mail and telephone campaign, and a blitz of lawmaker lobbying.
Now, small companies with an average of 10 workers are bearing the greatest burden of insurance premium increases, which have grown twice as fast as inflation for several years. They’ve started lobbying the presidential candidates early and are pushing for changes to taxes and state laws.
It is much cheaper per employee for large companies to provide health insurance, with more employees to balance risk and spread administrative costs.
And workers pay 18 percent more for premiums than their counterparts at larger firms, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit research group.
“The NFIB is starting to listen to its members,” said Peter Harbage, a Democratic health strategist who has worked for former presidential candidate John Edwards. “The whole health-care system seems designed to work against small business.”
These companies represent 80 percent of total U.S. employment. The influence lies in these hard numbers, but also their ubiquitousness in grass-roots politics.
Read more.
Photo by aard.
MySmallBusiness:
A leading banking analyst has warned small businesses could end up paying higher interest rates to cover the banks’ losses in home and corporate lending.
JPMorgan’s Brian Johnson says small business could pay 3% more than the 90 day bank bill swap rate, if mortgage stress now being
experienced by the non-bank lenders spreads to the big four Australian banks.
“It is going to cost a lot more to get debt. Only companies who have robust plans to support much higher interest costs will get [loans],” Johnson says.
Gerard Minack, from Morgan Stanley, says the impact of the credit crunch in Australia is still ahead of us and will be most intense in the SME and household sector.
“We will start to see credit problems [at the big four banks] when there are job losses. [Then] all hell will break loose,” Minack says.
Minack says the banks funding model is retarding their ability to lend.
“The structural vulnerability [of the banks] has boiled down to the peculiar funding of our banking system - so dependent on wholesale money, so dependant on offshore. And the fact they have funded an unsustainable consumer boom intertwined with an unsustainable boom in
housing.”
If things keep going the way they currently are in Australia, it looks like getting a small business loan will be nearly impossible or will cost much more than it does now to pay back. This might be a good time to consider some other way to borrow the money needed to start up a small business.
Image from Stock.xchng.
Sunderland Echo:
Martin McTague has always been passionate about fostering entrepreneurial potential on Wearside.
A veteran of the engineering sector with more than 20 years’ experience expanding markets across Europe, the Far East and USA, he is also the founder of Edensure Ltd and has helped save retail petrol stations millions of pounds by providing one of the most reliable stock analysis systems available.
Since it was launched in 2003, the Sunderland-based company has become a leader in its field, developing a technology partnership in the USA as well as expansion into European markets.
But as an avid small business supporter, Martin knows that local entrepreneurs are at the forefront of enterprise and innovation, and is the latest business leader to back the Echo’s If We Can You Can challenge.
“It is a fact that 60 per cent of all commercial innovations come from small businesses and that they also employ nearly two thirds of the private sector workforce,” says Martin.
“Anyone who runs a business will tell you that it takes a lot of hard work and determination to succeed, and yet that fact doesn’t put off over 50,000 people in the UK who start their own businesses every year.”
Martin says the If We Can You Can challenge was an excellent platform from which individuals and businesses can showcase their business aspirations and achievements in the region.
“We need to put faces to the names of those entrepreneurs helping strengthen the backbone of the North East economy now and in the future,” says Martin.
“It is also really important that our entrepreneurial talent is fostered, individual leadership encouraged and business vision maximized.
With just a little encouragement many entrepreneurs have been able to do amazing things. Keeping that in mind, the If We Can You Can challenge is about helping other people who would like to become entrepreneurs and small business owners get there. This is a good start to helping those determined to make their business dream come true.
